PATERSON — Local officials are considering a new strategy to try to spur development at about 60 locations where the city demolished privately-owned, unsafe buildings, many of them damaged in fires.

Those demolition sites have been plagued by a basic problem: the city’s property liens designed to recoup the money Paterson spent to knock the dangerous structures down now exceed the value of the vacant land, officials said.

As a result, nobody wants to buy the locations with the added cost of the liens, officials said. Some of the properties have remained vacant for years, becoming eyesores and havens for crime, officials said.

Paterson’s economic development director Ruben Gomez said that about 60 locations fit that profile. Under a proposal discussed during last week’s City Council meeting, Paterson would waive the liens. The city would forgoe recouping the money it put out to demolish the buildings as long as the new buyers get construction permits in six months and completed their projects within two years.

Gomez did not say exactly how much the property owners owe the city on the demolition liens. But the figure could easily exceed $1.2 million considering that most demotions cost between $20,000 and $50,000.

Councilman Kenneth Morris praised the attempt to attract development at the vacant sites. But Morris said he was uncomfortable with the plan to enact a city law that would apply to all pending demolition liens. Morris suggested the city lift the liens on a case by case basis, or bundling groups of properties and lifting the liens for them.

Nellie Pou, the city's business administrator, agreed with Morris’s position and said the city would craft an alternative plan in line with his suggestion.

The council next week already has one case pending for the partial removal of a demolition lien.

The city spent $26,000 in 2015 to demolish a damaged building at 179 Godwin Avenue, according to public records. Since then, the lien has grown to $37,323 because of interest costs, the records show. But an appraisal found that the property is only worth $13,200.

Under a resolution scheduled for a vote next week, the city would reduce the value of the lien to $13,200. The deal involves two of Paterson’s most high-profile real estate investors. The owner, John Fressie, was a supporter of former mayor Jose “Joey” Torres. Meanwhile, the buyer, Charles Florio, hired a private investigator to follow Torres, generated video recordings that led to his criminal conviction.